A Martial Marital
by Vintage Taylor
Summary: "Instead of taking it easy after all that fighting, he was back at it again wearing his body out. Punching imaginary aliens. Making that dumb face." Chi-Chi reflects on growing older while her husband continues to abuse his body after the tournament between Universe 6 and Universe 7. How can words explain it when food can't? One-shot dedicated to GoChi.


Two grandparents sat outside-

Well, let's rephrase that.

One who was fully aware that she's a grandparent now and one who seemed to be oblivious to everything sat outside their remodeled cottage on Mount Paozu. It was a typical scene for them; one that would occur when the husband wasn't on another planet fighting a different type of alien and the wife wasn't window shopping to keep her mind off the fact her husband was in freaking space fighting freaking aliens.

The only time she went along with him on his crazy shenanigans was because he promised her it was like the World Martial Arts Tournaments they enjoyed on Papaya Island. The difference was that this tournament would be in a different galaxy and the fighters won't look very human.

She was enjoying it at first until her husband nearly _died_!

A little guy poisoned him yet a few fights later Goku was back in the ring as cheerful as ever!

And he wondered why she was beginning to grow gray hairs.

Instead of taking it easy after all that fighting, he was back at it again wearing his body out. Punching imaginary aliens. Making that dumb face.

What was she doing, besides watching that dumb face?

Thinking.

Worrying.

 _Aging_.

Her oldest son already has a family of his own. Her youngest son is a year away from being a teenager. Her husband looks just like he did as a teenager, only buffer.

Her husband, who likes to pull the little gray hairs off her scalp and ask her how she got dog hair up there when they don't even own a dog in the first place. The same husband who traces the laugh lines on her face wondering who hit her with a spatula.

A sudden breeze kissed her hands. She realized that her skin was damp from holding onto the wet bed sheets for so long while she watched Goku fight the air. A frown that had been permanent on her face since this morning descended further as she clipped the sheets with clothes pins on the line.

"Why the long face, Cheech?"

"Why the stupid face?" she muttered. The last thing he needed was for her too-honest-for-his-own-good husband to evaluate her face some more. Being a grandmother, maybe now she had an excuse to not care anymore. "Maybe I won't cook for you anymore."

Her words stabbed Goku through his heart worse than Frieza's ki blast. He looked into those deceptive eyes for a good, silent minute before his jaw dropped. "Whoa, you're being serious!?"

Chi-Chi's thin brows arched upwards as she pretended to really think about. Goku never gave her a good reason to just suddenly stop being... _herself_ , doing her wifely and motherly duties, but just for a day...just for a meal...

She just didn't want to care.

"Goodbye, Goku. Have fun _training_. "

He watched the slender back of the suddenly-turned treacherous snake woman with wounded eyes. She was swinging her hips like she just won a silent argument and slammed the screen door behind her.

The Saiyan began rubbing the back of his head as if she'd recently sucker punched it.

What the heck had just happened!?

He wished at times like these he would have a little guy appear on his shoulder telling him what he should do next, like in those cartoons Goten would watch every morning. Shoot, he'd rather have Goten here but his youngest son was off causing mischief with Trunks per usual.

Goku looked to the surprisingly cloudless sky for answers. Could his wife _really_ be that angry about him training, or was it something deeper? After all, she knew him better than anyone after all these years of living in the same house.

The dictionary should have a picture of him under the word "training".

It was something Chi-Chi had said herself!

Like a petulant child, Goku pouted and dropped to the ground with his arms over his chest. He was certain she was upset about something else, because she was a witness to what Zeno - literally the god of _everything -_ had said.

Shouldn't she pumped about an all universe tournament!? Goku was nearly salivating at the mere thought of it!

Goku rubbed his chin. It was possible that she had forgotten all about it, or was preoccupied with Pan or something at the time of Zeno's arrival. Maybe she just needed a reminder; get a smile back on that face.

He pressed two fingers against his forehead and disappeared from the bed sheets that were blowing in the wind.

* * *

"Oh, please don't tell me I heard a crack..."

She definitely did.

Chi-Chi's back cracked as she bent down to make the water coming down the shower head warmer. At this point, she didn't even want to look at her exposed body in the mirror that wasn't foggy yet. Instead, she turned her back to it and released her long ebony hair from her trademark bun and hid her body from the bathroom-world behind the shower curtain.

She moved her neck to the side when the hot water attached itself to her skin. Despite the comfort of the steam, the frown from earlier remained.

How could a man just be so reckless all the time? His body will give out on him one day. But he's so driven to training and fighting, training and fighting every single minute of the day. She's tried countless times to stop him but has always failed. There was no point in preventing it anymore.

He knew what he was doing. His ki had been so out of control after that battle with a fighter whose name she didn't really care to remember. Heat? Hero? Hit? Either way, Goku was all out of whack and destroyed their house. It was only her second time using this new shower, but she liked it a little more than stepping on baby toys at Gohan's place.

A pained smile forced itself on her. Oh, who was she kidding. It was absolute heaven living with Gohan, Videl, and Pan for a few months while the house on Mount Paozu was remodeled. Living quarters were cramped in the guest room, but even waking up with Goten's foot in her mouth didn't stop Chi-Chi from having so many wonderful days.

Goku treated it like some sort of vacation himself. He played with Pan, helped Videl around the house, and would always catch up with Gohan at the end of their son's work days.

And then...

And then.

Chi-Chi sighed as her frown reappeared.

And then, they came back to Mount Paozu. Don't get her wrong. She loved this place, it has been home for more than twenty years. But with Goku's ki back in shape, he went right back to - you guessed it - training.

He didn't ask Goten about school. He didn't help with housework. Their remodeled house was just a place for the big lug to eat, sleep, and use the restroom. Goten didn't even hang around much. After school, he would immediately go play with Trunks.

For some foolish reason, Chi-Chi thought the routine at Gohan's would continue on Mount Paozu.

"Damn," she hissed once shampoo started burning her eyes. Temporarily blind, she felt around for the towel that should have been hanging on the curtain rod. She felt a cloth much more stiffer than she remembered. The burning was too much for her to care, and she began wiping her eyes vigorously until she able to open them. Chi-Chi was blinking at the soaked, orange gi of her husband.

"Did you forget your towel?"

Chi-Chi slowly looked up from his chest to his eyes, noticing that through his wet bangs he was grinning. The spikes of his hair, no matter how damp they got, always stood out in all different directions.

"Did you forget to take your clothes off?"

He chuckled and looked down at his boots that were drenched. "Is the water not going down the drain or something?"

Forgetting about her anger from only five minutes ago, Chi-Chi rested her head on her husband's clothed chest and sighed. "No, I probably didn't flip the switch right. I'm done anyway."

"So the shower thinks you want a bath?"

"Well.. I'm not sure if a shower could think, honey. But yeah."

Goku shook his head as if shaming the shower for being so stupid, and brushed past his wife's bare waist to turn the water off. Chi-Chi could hear his stomach growling at the time the drain started sucking down the water like a tornado. She placed her hands over her exposed chest and turned his nose at him.

"I hope you don't think you popping up in here gets you lunch."

If the Saiyan were a cursing man, he would of released a storm. Instead, he pouted and gripped his wife gently by the bare shoulder before she could exit the shower.

"Ah c'mon. I just wanted to talk about something for a little bit is all. That fine?"

So there the two grandparents stood, one exposed and one clothed. Both shivering. Both daring each other with their eyes to make the next move. Was Goku going to take off his pants!? Was Chi-Chi going to put some on!?

These were the important questions.

But then the wife licked her lips to begin lubricating a lie. Her eyes appeared to be cold at first, but a flame in the background was testing everything in the husband's power to not drop to his knees and apologize endlessly for everything he had done wrong since birth.

"What did you want to talk about, Goku?"

The tingle down the spine could easily be blamed on the freezing AC, but the honey-drizzled way she spoke his name was a culprit. She was still burning her gaze into his soul that he was finding it hard to do anything but release nervous laughter.

 _Damn it, Goku!_

It wasn't like he was trying to convince her to take Goten out of school and send him for training on Planet Namek or something ridiculously awesome like that! He just wanted to get her excited about the Omni King's grand tournament!

He had to advert his look from that face of hers in order to concentrate. The husband's gaze locked onto Chi-Chi's chest, which was no longer covered by her arms. He blinked his eyes once. Twice.

A third time.

"Wow! They're a lot higher up than Bulma's!"

Wincing ensued immediately. He closed his eyes and cringed; hands up by his face for protection in case Chi-Chi went savage on him. Had he really said that aloud than thinking of it!?

 _Damn it, Goku!_

"Wait, wait, wait! Let me explain!" Goku was still protecting his face and cowering behind the back of his eyelids. "Remember when I couldn't control my ki!? I ended up in Bulma's bedroom and I saw everything but only for a second and I didn't like it because it was strange and then Vegeta was red and I left!"

He waited a good ten seconds to feel the wrath of his wife until he opened his eyes to find her standing there with clenched fists. The Saiyan scratched his head. By the only _slightly_ annoyed expression, Goku could clearly see this wasn't the first time she had heard about this. Who could have told her!? Vegeta's pride would prevent him from doing so and he figured Bulma would've been too embarrassed!

And _when_ could have someone told her!? Surely she would have kicked his orange ass out of the house that very minute!

Chi-Chi began rising her hands up from her sides, and Goku was prepared to go flying through the steamed-up bathroom wall. But like an evil siren song, she cupped her hands to her mouth and began giggling until it broke out into hysterical laughter.

Goku flinched when she took a mere step forward.

She had finally gone insane.

"Uh, honey?" Goku's voice was squeaky like a boy going through puberty. "You okay there?"

There were tears in her eyes. Her shoulders continue to go up and down as she sniffed and offered Goku her loving hand. He took hesitantly, wondering if she was going to flip him.

"Come on, you dummy. Let's put some dry clothes on."

Although her touch was gentle, Goku had to be careful. He extended the wingspan of the mama bird as far as he could without hurting her. He was a safe distance away from her legs now if she tried roundhousing him.

Chi-Chi looked over her shoulder before they entered the bedroom and rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop. Bulma and I were having a friendly conversation over tea while you and her husband abandoned us for all those months and it came up. I promise you, I wasn't mad at all. Just..."

Her voice trailed off into a sad tone before she could finish what she wanted to say. Although it scared him, seeing her laughing like she did in the bathroom was a whole lot better than seeing her with that frown again. She even released his hand and went into their bedroom silently.

The towel she meant to grab before taking her shower was laid out on the large bed. Chi-Chi picked it up like it was fragile glass work and dried off what hadn't leaked in the hallway.

In the doorway, Goku began taking his gi off. Chi-Chi had made him five replicas of the one Whis had given him. That thought alone began to make Goku feel a bit pained. Come to think of it, Chi-Chi was always taking care of him and their sons. Always.

While she was preoccupied with towel drying her hair, Goku searched through their closet until he found exactly what he was looking for. When he managed to get his big head of hair through the sweater, the jeans that were only worn once in his life were next. He tapped Chi-Chi's shoulder and waited with a smile for her to turn around.

"Goku!" she was fighting a smile of her own. "Why are you wearing that?"

"You made it, right?"

Chi-Chi blushed when he grabbed her bra from the pile of clothes on their bed and tried putting it on her from behind. A frustrated groan followed by a flying bra signaled his defeat.

"Forget it. You don't even need it!"

"I sort of do-"

Goku pressed a finger to her lips to shush her. He looked at the dress on their bed and shook his head. Chi-Chi stared at him in disbelief when he returned to the closet and began digging through it like a madmen until he found one of his navy shirts. She had a pair of her own shorts in the same color just chilling in one of the shelves and threw it behind him for her to catch.

Chi-Chi looked at her husband's choice of outfit and sighed. "Are you seriously suggesting I wear these?"

"Why not?"

Her eyes narrowed at the careless shrug of his shoulders. Of course he would never have the same worries she did. "It's not...modest. My legs won't look good. I'm too... old."

There was the change in her voice again. Goku didn't like it. His poor wife was still in a towel with damp hair and cold skin. She needed to get out in the sun, and quick. Moving as fast as only he could, Goku was able to get the over-sized shirt on her body easier than the bra. The Saiyan hadn't worn a pair of underwear in a week behind Chi-Chi's back and decided she would be fine for an hour or two herself.

So, the grandparents were in a war of clothing. Chi-Chi was red in the face and screaming at her clueless husband as he put her revealing pair of shorts on backward with no underwear on either one of them. The grandfather didn't even give her time to put her hair up in her signature bun. He held her like a wounded animal and ran her outside as if her life depended on it.

"Goku! Take me back!" Chi-Chi was desperate. Their closest neighbors were ten miles away, but Chi-Chi wasn't comfortable showing this much leg outdoors. To make it worse, her husband's large shirt fit her like a mini dress to the point it looked like nothing was underneath. "You are in _sooo_ much trouble, mister!"

The alien husband managed to hold onto her like a wriggly fish that didn't want to get eaten. He had no idea how, but this woman was making him angry, sad, and amused all at once. The more she fought him, the closer and tighter he held her. He didn't even know where they were going, but they passed their car twenty minutes ago.

"I told you I wanted to talk to you, Cheech!"

"If it's about Bulma, forget it! I told you I already knew!" Chi-Chi showed him her cheek in defiance when he looked down at her. He could see tears beginning to form for whatever reason. "It's already bad enough I'm younger than her but look so much older!"

A wife just can't say something like that to her husband, especially if her husband is a man like Goku. His eyebrows became furrowed in confusion as he tried to piece everything together.

"Have you been upset because... Bulma is old?"

"No, stupid! It's because _I'm_ old! I'm _getting_ older!" Goku allowed her to jump out of his arms. She began punching him in the chest of his yellow sweater. "You're so frustrating! I know there are more important things in this world to be concerned about, but I deserve to complain after everything you've put me through!"

"What the heck do you mean!? We have our house back!"

"It's not about the damn house!" Chi-Chi shoved him backwards and Goku's eyes widened not only at her cursing, but at her power. "You almost went and died again at that tournament! I can't lose you again like I did for seven damn years!"

The roundhouse Goku had been expecting finally arrived. He was able to duck, but as soon as he came back up little fists of fury were causing him to go back towards the directions of the house. Goku didn't really know what to say or do. He was frightened and excited at once.

"But wasn't being there fun!? You always love going to tournaments and you should know everything will always turn out okay in the end! So why not have the same excitement for that largest tournament of all universes!?"

Chi-Chi's face twisted. She could have sworn by that twinkle in his eye that he got off on just the mere thought of training. "If it means watching you die, there is no way in hell I'd ever go to one of those ever again! I'm so sick of watching you kill yourself! I thought when we became grandparents you would give all of this up but it's only gotten worse!"

Dear Kami, how it's gotten worse! The threats and challenges just seemed to be more and more constant when Pan came into the picture.

Goku grabbed her dainty fists and made his voice more dramatic. "Miss, you're going to have to stop stepping on my toes please I have some terrible news. Pan is the worst thing to have happened to Earth- OW! I WAS JOKING!"

"It's. Not. Funny!" Chi-Chi jumped back and looking at his navy boots, hoping that it would be throbbing underneath. "I can't believe you thought those would match that sweater."

Goku knew the true enemy was the woman in front of him, smirking with those cruel lips. She had to be taken down immediately and made a comrade. In a single motion, he had her on her back in the middle of field where Goten and himself trained every now and then. He put his heavy legs across her torso to hold her down, and Chi-Chi grunted and cursed under her breath trying to remove them.

"What in the hell have I been feeding you!?"

"Some good stuff! And I'm telling you right now you're going to have to make some of that good stuff soon because I'm hungry!"

"And why should I do that!? So you'll get the energy to go to another planet for three years and not check up on me!?"

Goku made some sort of growling sound like he was fed up with this woman's antics. Her creamy legs that hadn't seen the sun since she wore a bikini as a child were glowing. Her dark hair, despite a gray strand or two, had dried and was sprawled out on the grass. She failed to notice the lines on her face that she had gotten angry at Goku for pointing them out were from her youthful smile and laughter from all their years together.

"Because I need you, Chi-Chi."

Her doe eyes blinked. For some reason, she expected him to answer with 'chicken and white rice'. "What?"

The Saiyan wanted to make a crack about her needing a hearing aid, but knew it would dig him deeper in the hole. Her bangs had grown out completely over the years and revealed a smooth forehead. He pressed his lips against it quickly before looking into her eyes again.

"No matter what you think, I need you. I need you when I'm with King Kai. I need you when I'm with Whis. I need you when I have to go get groceries on my own because you're sick. Nobody cooks like you and you're the only one who makes my clothes feel just right and whenever I get back from where ever I've been and whoever I've been fighting, I know everything will be okay once I come back home to you."

Chi-Chi was lost. He was being serious for the first time in months. All that could come out of her mouth was, "Chicken?"

The husband chuckled. She was so cute. "Yeah, chicken's good. But you're not. Why do you get sad about growing up?"

The wife sighed and brought herself up. She was certain there were ants and ladybugs in her hair, but it didn't bother her. Goku rotated his body so she was able to lay back on his chest while he wrapped his arms around hers.

"Because you're not. You always look the same."

"You do too! Even better!"

Chi-Chi shook her head while picking at one of his yellow sleeves. "You're joking."

Goku held her tighter and pressed his nose against the back of her head. She acted like he was an immortal. "Vegeta told me that I'll look the same for a long time and then I'll age rapidly and die."

"...Oh..."

"I'm the lucky one in this situation because I get to see you changing all the time. And each time, uh..."

Chi-Chi threw her head back so she could see his blushing face and laughed. "What? Each time, what?"

"Mm..."

"Just say it!"

Goku looked up at the sky. There were still no clouds. "Ah, come on. You know it, I know it, the kids know it. The whole world knows it. I don't have to say it, do I?"

Chi-Chi blinked her long lashes and smiled sweetly, contently. She knew all along about how he felt, and was the stupid one for thinking otherwise. "Chicken?"

Goku brought her up with him like she was a bride all over again instead of a wounded animal and began jogging to their newly built home, one that he promised not to destroy again. "You know me so well."

"I'm sorry for making that sweater. It looks terrible on you."

The husband laughed and then attempted to keep a straight face. "I was wrong about the shorts. You shouldn't have worn them."

"..."

"Didn't you hear those birds whistling like crazy at ya!? I shoulda taught 'em a lesson or two!"

With a playful punch to the chest, the grandparents headed back to the same place they started this morning. The wife realized the husband would never change, and that was perfect. The husband realized the wife would continue to change, but that was perfect. The husband and wife needed each other, and if the time came when one couldn't protect the other, it would shatter them to pieces.

So for today, they live. They wear ugly yellow sweaters and feed the one who fights because of love strangely and confusingly built up for more than twenty years. A martial marital.


End file.
